Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

Estelle Clifford's been listening to Avril Lavigne's angsty new album, Love Sux. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fear Index – Robert Harris: The Fear Index is a 2011 novel set in a period of roughly 24 hours from the 6 May 2010—the date of the British general election and the Flash Crash. It’s been made into a new film starring Josh Hartnett.Dark Horse – Greg Hurwtiz: Evan Smoak - Orphan X aka The Nowhere Man - is back at break-neck speed in a thrilling new adventure from Gregg Hurwitz. Having just survived an attack on his life Evan Smoak isn't interested in a new mission. But one finds him anyway. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool gives us his advice on the age-old trick question: I love you but I'm not 'in love', should I leave?LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wine expert Bob Campbell has been tasting Neudorf 2021 Rosie's Block Moutere Albariño from Nelson. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the old days, when I was a long-haired hippie (!!!) I used to make my own liquid fertiliser for the organic garden.Two reasons:1) it brought all sorts of elements into the top soil (beneficial for plants)2) the liquid in the barrel often had the most amazing life-forms living in it (especially rat-tailed maggots! – I’ll get into details in a later episode of “Jack’s weird and wonderful world”Main plants to add to the barrel-with-water:Weeds!Weeds grow in your garden because conditions are such that the weeds can flourish simply because they have the nutrients that might be lacking in the soil!!If you have lots of YARROW it might mean your soil could do with a bit of Phosphorus. Yarrow has deep roots that can grab phosphorus from way down in the soil and “bring it up”. Mind you it also has good amounts of Potash, plus the trace elements of copper and sulphur.COMFREY does a similar deep mining of the soil: it gets potash up to the surface.I have a lot of NETTLE in my garden – a sign of Nitrogen being leached out, probably because of sloping conditions of the soil. But the yellow and red admiral butterflies love the nettle for their caterpillars.Other useful weeds: Dandelion, fat hen, borage, dock, plantain, tansy, sow-thistles, and that awful CleaverFor extra nutrients grab some fresh chicken poo (Nitrogen!)Barrel with water and all the weeds you can find; soak them in there for a few weeks so it all breaks down nicely – this often starts becoming quite smelly (maybe put a lid on?) and will be ready when it has become a nice yucky sludge.In cooler weather it’ll take a lot longer to create a barrel of fertiliser.Now, delivery of the stuff is tricky: you don’t really want to use the “raw” stuff, but dilute perhaps 1 in 10, so you get a nice, light tea brew that won’t burn the roots of the plantsIf you live near the coast: grab some seaweed too as that’s usually full of extra minerals that work well in the “trace elements department”Personally I have given up making liquid fertilisers (lack of time, really)… as there is some very efficient stuff on the market that works brilliantly.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social Media is a minefieldNow is the time to be very careful.. there is a lot of misinformation - whether deliberate or accidental - on the platforms. There's an account - @aircraftrack - that is tracking military aircraft and, based on this, has been accurately predicting when the air-attacks will take place. Then through live cameras and posts from citizens you can see the explosions from multiple angles. Concerns over internet accessIn a 21-st century war there are fears internet connectivity could be targeted, either through cyber attacks or physical attacks on hardware/infrastructure. In the first 24 hours of the conflict cable-based ISPs have seen some outages in Kharkiv - the second largest city. Cell networks have remained up through.Ukraine has been a source of cheap labor for tech giants There is a really solid software engineering industry there and a cheaper cost of living, so tech firms have been increasingly outsourcing/offshoring work there. SAP, Wix, Revolut have moved employees to safer locations inside Ukraine, or even to neighboring Poland. Grammarly, founded in Kyiv in 2009, still has folks working there as well as SF, New York and Vancounver. With the location diversity of tech talent, you've got a much better chance of knowing someone who may be living in the conflict area.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raised by Refugees: a new New Zealand comedy. Pax Assadi is your typical 12-year-old from the early 2000s - obsessed with hip hop, girls, and Eddie Murphy. His parents came to New Zealand in the late '80s as refugees and want him to get good grades, but all Pax wants to do is fit in. However, a major international incident makes that very difficult (Neon).Landscapers: Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star in this crime drama based on true events. A seemingly ordinary British couple become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when two dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham (Neon).Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber: This seven-part drama chronicles one of Silicon Valley's most successful and most destructive start-ups, Uber. The story focuses on Uber's hard-hitting CEO, Travis Kalanick, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with mentor Bill Gurley. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) and Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction) (Neon, from Monday).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi comedian Pax Assadi is no stranger to the stage. He started his career in stand-up comedy in 2012 and was nominated for the Billy T Award just a year later. However, his new project takes him from stage to screen. Pax has just released his new TV comedy series, Raised by Refugees. It’s based on his experience growing up in Aotearoa as a half-Pakistani and half-Iranian kid. His parents want him to study hard and eventually become a doctor but all Pax wants to do is fit in and feel accepted Pax Assadi joins Jack Tame on Saturday Mornings to talk about the show. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uncharted: Street-smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland. Hive: An Albanian-Kosovan drama film about struggling widows who start a business to sell a local food product, hoping to provide for their families. Together, they find healing and solace in the new venture, but their will to live independently is soon met with hostility.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before we say goodbye to nectarines, plums, peaches and the rest of the summer stone fruit, make this tart and serve it with great dollops of cream.Makes one 23cm tart1-2 sheets store-bought sweet shortcrust pastry5-6 nectarines, plums, apricots or peachesFilling100g unsalted butter, softened100g (caster sugar1 tablespoon plain flour2 size 6 free-range eggs,3 tsps vanilla extract1 cup + 2 tablespoons ground almonds1. Heat oven to 190 C. Place a tray in to heat up.2. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and press into 23 cm tart tin. Prick all over with a fork, then chill for 30 minutes.3. Halve and remove stones from the fruit and cut each half in half.4. Beat together butter and sugar until smooth and pale. Beat in eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla, flour and almonds. Mix to combine. Spread mixture over chilled pastry. Arrange fruit on top of filling. Place tart tin onto heated baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes or until pastry is cooked and filling is golden brown.5. Cool tart for 10 minutes before removing from tin.6. Serve slices warm or cooled with whipped cream!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eleven years ago, Kevin Milne spent two weeks in Ukraine filming a documentary for Intrepid Journeys. He speaks to Jack Tame about his experience visiting the country now at the centre of world news.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World is changing before our eyes. Russian forces continue to advance into Ukraine. Residents in Kyiv are being handed guns as they prepare to try and defend their homes.I won’t pretend for a moment to be some high-placed geopolitical analyst but in watching the events in Eastern Europe this week I’ve been taken by a few things.1) For all the tanks and artillery, paratroopers and fighter jets, Vladimir Putin continues to use information as perhaps his important and effective weapon. The propaganda and misinformation that comes from the Kremlin makes it very difficult for anyone – Russian or otherwise – to ever know with certainty what’s true and what isn’t. For months, Putin has been insisting he isn’t preparing for war. Russian talk shows called Western governments’ warning about a looming invasion ‘hysteria’ and ‘absurd.’ When Putin appeared on TV a few nights ago and made the case for invading Ukraine, he claimed to be fighting Ukrainian neo-Nazis, despite the fact Ukraine’s president is a Jewish comedian. When the Ukrainian President made a similar address as a last-ditch effort to prevent war, he spoke in Russian, appealing directly to the Russian people.“I know they won’t show my address on Russian TV.” He said.“But Russian people have to see it.”Russia dedicates resource to weaponising information abroad. Putin was able to utterly destablise parts of the American democracy by hacking emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign team. We’ll never fully quantify just how many people were led astray by Russian bots spreading misinformation on Facebook in the leadup to the 2016 U.S election. But the Kremlin’s propaganda octopus has awfully long tentacles. Just this week, the highest-rating show on Fox News was echoing talking points from the Kremlin. Host Tucker Carlson, no doubt led in his messaging by his close relationship with Donald Trump, said on-air that Ukraine isn’t a “real democracy” and the conflict in Eastern Europe was a mere “border dispute.” Millions of viewers lapped it up.2) We are witnessing in real time yet another step in America’s retreat from global dominance. I’m not saying Russia is taking its place. I’m just saying that Russia is thumbing its nose and there’s next to nothing America can do about it. Having played World Police for the last seventy years, the American public has little appetite for foreign wars. Biden has ruled out fighting with Russian troops and the Afghanistan fiasco has reminded everyone that the World’s mightiest military power perhaps isn’t so mighty after all. The threat of sanctions was insufficient to stop Vladimir Putin. And that’s it.It also has to be said, the U.S ceded the moral high ground. There is an obvious hypocrisy in seeing American leaders rage against Russia’s invasion of a sovereign country. Vladimir Putin opposed the invasion of Iraq. If it was ok for the U.S to invade sovereign territory on the other side of the World, why can’t Russia invade its neighbour?3) Once again we are reminded of the impotence of international organisations. Countries like New Zealand can strongly condemn and blah blah blah but it won’t do anything. The U.N is hamstrung by the Security Council’s power of veto. Russia’s biggest trading partner, China, is conspicuous in its relative silence, so far refusing to condemn the Russian invasion and likely gaming out what the international response would mean for potential similar action in Taiwan.We are watching the World order change in real time. All we can really do is hope it isn’t too bloody.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can now see the data powering your Uber rating Uber's new privacy center shows you a lot more of the data they collect about you...including your rating as a passenger. You can now see exactly how many 1-star rides are ruining your perfect 5-star score. They're also showing you how many rides you've taken, how many Eats orders you've made.. which makes for horrifying reading for some! Is the web facing a new Y2K style problem? Chrome, the world's most popular web browser, is about to hit version 100, which could cause issues with websites and web applications. If the applications are looking at what the browser's version is, and are expecting a two digit number, then those sites could break when they get three digits. Microsoft Edge is built off the base of Google Chrome so will face similar problems. The savvy developers have seen this coming and have been testing to make sure they're good to go.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Raynes has been reading The Maid by Nita Prose and Again, Rachel - the first sequel from Marian Keyes about everyone's favourite character, Rachel Walsh. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Yardley's been working up a sweat biking and hiking around Ruapehu on the Central Plateau. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the easiest ways to make a difference in the climate emergency is composting your organic waste rather than throwing it in your rubbish binOrganic matter in your rubbish goes into the landfill where is starts composting in amongst your paper and plastic waste. This causes methane to build up, which is a strong greenhouse gas, and can also reintroduce some of the nasty chemicals and heavy metals back into our environment. Not good.If you have no room you can use a worm farm or bokashi bin. Jack has been using a worm bin for years in his balcony gardenToday we will talk about a backyard compostMany people are a bit afraid or concerned that it will take too much time to compost and be messy. Let’s talk about how easy, and in the end satisfying, composting can beWhat do you needFirst of all find a handsome closable container that can sit on your bench and take all the scraps as you prepare your meals and then scrap off your plates after eating. We also have a larger bin on the floor that operates by a foot action to open the lid,. This is for bigger meals, corn and harvest season and when you have visitors and are eating a lot of food.A garden fork is handy to own and best for turning the compostCollect green materials, usually grass clippings , coffee grounds and if available manure from horses, cows, chickens or sheep. These are high nitrogen additives that will kick start the microbes breaking down your waste. The green items also include your kitchen waste including egg shells, tea leaves etc.For your brown materials wood chips from the local garden contractors are perfect. Other “brown” options include shredded cardboard, dried leaves, straw or hay, all of which should be well mixed with other items so they don’t compact and impede air flow.Then find a space in your yard for the bin, preferably in the shade. Bins come in many shapes and sizes. Find one that suits your habits and spaceCompost requires four main ingredients: water, oxygen, nitrogen — from “green” items — and carbon — from “brown” itemsA compost pile should be damp, like a squeezed-out sponge, but not dripping, and the more often you turn it and give it oxygen, the faster the microbes can break the materials down to an earthy-smelling, chocolate-brown amendment for your soil. You don’t have to turn it at all, but it will take much longer for all the materials to break down.1. Start with a 8 to 15cm layer of untreated wood chips or small broken branches at the bottom of a bin or just on the ground. This will help absorb odours and provide air circulation.2. Add a 8cm layer of green or nitrogen items, such as vegetable trimmings and eggshells.3. Add a 3cm layer of a high-nitrogen activator such as manure, brew waste or coffee grounds. If you use grass clippings, make sure to mix them in with other items so they don’t compact.4. Add a 8cm layer of brown or carbon ingredients, such as wood chips, shredded newspaper or cardboard, straw or hay, pine needles or dry leaves (well mixed with other ingredients so they don’t mat).5. Water those layers well so the pile is thoroughly wet, and if you have enough ingredients, repeat the same layering process, watering again to ensure all the ingredients get wet.6. Turn the pile monthly by forking ingredients from the bottom of the pile to the top. When you add food scraps, cover them with wood chips or some other brown material to absorb odours and deter pests, but try to keep an even balance of greens and browns and make sure the pile stays moist. If the pile gets too dry, decomposition slows and it’s more likely to attract ants and other pests. Add more greens and water, and turn. If the pile starts smelling or gets too wet, add more brown carbon material and mix it well.7. Once you fill a bin, let it “cook” for a few months (turning it monthly will speed the process) and start a second bin or pile...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are a lot of nonsense stories around white-tails. People seem to be very frightened of them; I blame the media, who don’t seem to have a scientific bone in their bodyThese species are from Australia – came here in the 1800-s, probably with household goods in containers; we now have a couple of species Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina.Recent taxonomic investigations showed there are 61 species of white-tails in Australia; imagine what we’ve missed out on so far!They are nocturnal huntersLove to live on the outside of our houses – their favourite prey is grey house spider; the one that makes those messy cobwebs on weather boards and in the corner of windows – and yes… also the one that lives in your car’s side mirrors!Warm summer: people sleep with windows open; easy entry for the spiders.When disturbed, they tend to run quickly and hide in all sorts of nooks and crannies; yep – they may find their way under the sheets as wellWhite tails can and will bite when trapped or provoked.But… the media reports of serious repercussions, including necrotising fasciatus – or - necrotising arachnidism (where the flesh starts to die as a result of an infection in the bite) are simply unsubstantiated – bad journalism and highly dodgy!So far there is no white tail bite recorded where the biting spider was identified by an entomologist, and the patient was observed by medical experts, linking the whole cause and effect up in truly proper scientific manner.The spider bites that have been followed up resulted in nothing more than a pair of red fang marks and a wee bit of short-lived painThen there is the Daddy-Longlegs myth:White tails are unlikely to capture and devour these cellar spiders (Daddy Longlegs); I’ve tried it many times: put a white-tail and a Daddy-Longlegs in one container and see who eats who.(Great trick for the classroom, by the way!)In almost 100% of the cases the Daddy-Longlegs will wrap up the white tail before it even gets anywhere near the body of that long-legged spider!Just thought I’d tell you about that,So you can stop worrying!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our resident doctor Bryan Betty discusses vaping and its risks.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Severence: Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken star in this sci-fi drama about a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs (AppleTV+). Medici: The Magnificent: A historical political drama about the House of Medici, a powerful banking dynasty that wielded great influence in 15th-century Renaissance, Florence. When an attempt on Piero de Medici’s life forces his son Lorenzo to assume leadership of the family-run bank. Lorenzo finds himself in conflict with the head of Florence’s other powerful banking family, Jacopo Pazzi (Neon). Starstruck: A second series of the delightful HBO rom-com starring and written by Rose Matafeo, who plays Jessie, a hapless millennial who hooks up with a movie star. Their worlds could not be more different, yet fate keeps bringing them together under the most extraordinary circumstances (TVNZ OnDemand).LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grown Ups, Sushi for Beginners, Rachel’s Holiday...all book titles you’re likely to recognise from Irish author Marian Keyes. More than 30 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide, she’s one of Ireland’s most successful authors of all time and has a reputation as one of the nicest in the business. Marian has just released her 15th novel and first ever sequel, returning to the beloved character of Rachel Walsh. The wonderful Marian Keyes joins Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This recipe is for anyone who a. has too many tomatoes in the garden or b. loves the taste of summer in winter or c. adores pizza and/or pasta for dinner. So, pretty much everyone then! But even if you don’t grow your own tomatoes this recipe is for you because about now toms get cheap, really cheap in your local grocers and a few kgs made into pasta sauce now, can see you through many a dark winter’s night.Makes about 5 cups2 medium onions, roughly chopped4 cloves garlic, crushed3kg ripe tomatoes, roughly choppedSmall handful fresh herbs – basil, oregano, thymeOptional – chopped courgette, capsicum, celery1-2 tsps sea salt1/2 teaspoon black pepperHeat a splash of olive oil in a large pan, pot or wok. Add all the ingredients and let it simmer for an hour covered. Uncover, add another splash of olive oil and simmer until thickened for say 20-30 more minutes. If you like a smooth sauce, blend with a stick blender or use a food processor. I blend to a chunky sauce.Transfer to containers and freeze.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

C’mon C’mon When his sister asks him to look after her son, a radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his energetic nephew to show him life away from Los Angeles. The Worst Person in the World A 2021 dark romantic comedy-drama film directed by Joachim Trier about a young woman battles indecisiveness as she traverses the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne speaks to Jack Tame about how police are coping with the demonstrations at Parliament amidst claims they've "gone soft". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I couldn’t believe it!I finished up on my Saturday radio show, last week. Cycled home. Made some lunch. Refreshed the New Zealand Herald, and whaddaya know? It was like Trevor Mallard had been listening to us all morning.The Speaker of the House was blasting protestors with Barry Manilow and the Macarena. Unbelievable. Apparently I didn’t make it clear enough in my editorial last week. I was JOKING when I suggested they hit protestors with silly music. I was joking. I never for a moment thought it would actually happen.For me, that’s been one of the interesting little hypocrisies in this whole episode. On one hand, politicians wanted to take a moralistic high ground by refusing to meet with protestors. How dare anyone dignify them with a response?! Only the moralistic high ground apparently didn’t apply to the Speaker, his sprinklers, and his irritating playlist.Trevor Mallard’s efforts can only have served to antagonise the protestors. And every bit of scorn and hate hurled upon them only reinforces their self-image. The Team of Five Million? Ha. This rabble, confused, misled, and deluded as they may be, felt well and truly left out of the Team of Five Million. They joined together to protest precisely because they felt like outsiders. They felt ostracised. Very little from the last ten days will have changed their minds.Hindsight’s 20/20. I think politicians should have found a way to reach out to the protestors much sooner. It probably wouldn’t have done much to end the protest, but some of these people have been prepared to completely alienate themselves from friends and family and the majority of our society, to lose their jobs and livelihoods over their misguided beliefs. Refusing to meet them was hardly going to make them feel any worse.Yes, there were terrible, hateful, threatening messages. As far as I’m concerned, anyone making death threats should have been arrested immediately. But in this morass of different grievances and complaints are some very reasonable and articulate concerns around extraordinary state mandates. Personally, I don’t know why any right-thinking person who was only protesting the mandates would choose to stay and be associated with someone making death threats. But the mandate issue is worthy of protest. I don’t agree with the protestors, but they do have a right to be heard.I’m very aware that many of those who want to see the protestors rounded up and arrested, whatever it takes, are the same people who supported the Black Lives Matter protests during the Level 2 lockdowns. They were prepared to break Covid laws to protest Police brutality but are now advocating for a potentially brutal police response to a group breaking Covid laws.They’re the same people who revelled in the ‘Team of Five Million’ and ‘Kindness’ messages, and the adoring international media coverage of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response. Have they actually looked at the crowd? I wonder what the headline in the New York Times wouldbe if a couple of kids were hurt in an almighty scuffle between Police and protestors on the steps of parliament.I’m no tactician, but I wonder if the best way to manage the protest is to slowly pick away at it. Police should cordon all the nearby streets. They should stop all but authorised cars from entering the area. No one can bring in tents or sleeping bags. They should target the protest organisers and arrest them one-by-one. It may take days or weeks.As with most of our Covid response, the rights and wellbeing of the majority should be prioritised. The protest should not have been allowed to grow to this size and should not be allowed to continue. Fundamentally though, when comparing an ongoing protest to the alternative, I am not convinced a potentially violent clash between protestors and Police is better for New Zealand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Estelle Clifford gives us her rating of Mary J. Blige's new album, 'Good Morning Gorgeous'. It's the R&B star's first album since 2017.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Becoming Forrest – Rob Pope The remarkable true story of an unrivalled journey to recreate the greatest run in film history: 15,621 miles, five-times across the United States. Violeta – Isabel Allende This sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Yardley shares all the brews, bites and sights in Ohakune.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Relationship expert Steven Dromgool says friendship is as important as any relationship and needs to be nurtured. It means there will be times you will have to navigate conflict with your mates - how do you do that?LISTENABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I live a sheltered life! Ever since moving to Christchurch a few insect “pests” have disappeared from my life and my garden: the Passionvine hopper and the Green, stinking vegetable bug (Nezara viridula)This last character is always the one that makes gardeners excited… Just look at my diary notes on talkback callers!Green vegie bugs are sap sucking insects that arrived in NZ a long, long time ago. Their tactics are simple: stick the proboscis into plant material with lots of veins and transport tubes that are full of minerals and sugars, and you are basically mainlining your journey to adulthood.Removal of these nutritious plant foods causes deficiency symptoms: yellowing and browning, leafcurl and dieback; Muckin’ around with hypodermic needles and veins allows these bugs to become very competent vectors of all sorts of diseases and viruses and that could be the bugs big effect on plants: disease transmission!These bugs go through an interesting life-cycle, starting as young black buglets and showing different colours after every moult: some yellow bits appear and some red bits too, but generally speaking they get more and more green with every “instar”Great hosts for the green vegetable bugs are beans, corn, tomatoes, sunflower and a pretty ornamental called Cleome.They don’t seem to like “smelly” crops like onions, shallots and garlic, leeks and lavender. Smelly competition is not their gig.The world of insects is a “chemical world”; most of these invertebrates are really good at picking up smells and chemical deposits and exudates from plants and - indeed – mates! They know their environment through their noses, which are often the antennae or feelers.With Green vegetable bugs, we can use that smell detection prowess in a clever way to “control” them on our plants:1) Get out in a cool morning and locate he buggers2) Squash a few between thumb and fore-fingers. The Coriander-like smell will become quite noticeable (wear a Covid face mask??)3) Keep your eyes peeled: some of the nearby bugs are getting nervous: there’s obviously some mean “predator” nearby squashing their friends and whanau!!! Help!!!4) The neighbours drop off the plants onto the soil (in the hope that predator doesn’t see them)5) Squash those cowards too – smell increases remarkably.6) More come jumping down… keep squashing7) Etc etc – It’ll take perhaps ten minutes to literally reduce the bug population by 80 or 90 %Using the flowers of sunflowers and Cleome increases your control efficacy big time: these plants are “trap crops”, attracting the bugs in large numbers;So: start off with the 1 to 7 list on Sunflowers and Cleome and you’ll be on a winning streak.Oh and despite the faint resemblance to the smell of Coriander, I cannot recommend using the half-dead bugs in your stir-fry Indonesian meal!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance expert Hannah McQueen feels a financial reckoning is on its way. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samsung's new mobile lineup is outIt's the Galaxy S22. There's the regular, plus and new ultra. The ultra replaces the Galaxy Note and still comes with the stylus. It has five cameras - more than I've ever seen on a phone - and configured in a P shape. It's got a crazy 108 Megapixel camera, and a 40 megapixel camera on the front. You're able to control every part of the camera and even get the raw files. All shoot video at 8K. There's an updated portrait mode too, including 'pet portrait'! It'll find the faces of your favorite furry friends! . The phones are getting tougher too - they're all waterproof and have gorilla glass on the front and back.Apple's trying to deter people from using Airtags maliciously Almost immediately after launch criminals started using Airtags to track then steal cars, or even track people. It's not the image Apple wants to project so they're starting to make some changes. Now when people are setting up their airtag there'll be a warning message to tell people tracking people is a crime in many parts of the world and reminds them that law enforcement can request information about who owns the airtag.Newer iPhones can also help you detect Airtags that don't belong to you.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inventing Anna: Inspired by a true story, this American drama follows a journalist investigating the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary heiress who stole the hearts and money of New York elites (Netflix) The Girl Before: An HBO/BBC drama that follows the story of a smart and curious PR exec who gets the chance to move into a beautiful, minimalist home designed by a supremely self-confident and enigmatic architect. Jane must adhere to peculiar house rules as stipulated by David, but a shocking discovery about the prior tenant creates an unnerving atmosphere causing Jane to question her fate (Neon). Bel-Air: Will's life is turned upside down when he goes from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air in this dramatic reimagining of the iconic 90s sitcom for a whole new era. Produced by Will Smith (TVNZ OnDemand, from 14 Feb) LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not many people can say they’re on the hit list of one the biggest global leaders in the world but Bill Browder can certainly make that claim. He became one of the biggest foreign investors in Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain and subsequently became a target for none other than President Vladmir Putin. Bill wrote the book Red Notice which details his story and his fight to expose the Russian Government’s corruption. Jack Tame catches up with him and asks his thoughts on the latest tension between Russia and Ukraine.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plums. They seem so quintessentially New Zealand to me. Growing up, we had a huge plum tree in our back yard that I would spend many afternoons climbing its lichen-laden branches. Collecting bucket loads of tart and juicy fruit from where they’d fallen was a summer ritual and seeing them turned into cakes, slices, sauces and more was even better. Makes 5-8 medium jars/bottles 3 kg plums, make sure you count how many you put in the pot so you know how many stones to extract! 1 kg brown sugar 1.5 litres vinegar 6 tsps salt 50g chopped ginger 3 tsps whole cloves 2 tsps whole allspice 2 tsps black peppercorns You will really need a preserving pan for this quantity but if you haven’t got one, halve the recipe and use your largest pot instead. Tie the spices in a muslin bag or a clean cut up nylon stocking is ideal. Place all ingredients in the pan and bring to the boil then simmer until the plums are all squashy. About an hour. Now the fun part - to remove all the pips (which you have counted). A lot will have floated to the top but the rest will have to be found before you blend your sauce. With a stick blender puree the sauce and bring back to the boil then simmer for a further 45 minutes or until it thickens. Bottle into sterilised jars and/or bottles. Screw on the lids.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Death on the Nile Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Torn On Oct. 5, 1999, legendary climber Alex Lowe was tragically lost alongside cameraman and fellow climber David Bridges in an avalanche on the slopes of the Tibetan mountain, Shishapangma. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trevor Mallard asked for the sprinklers to stay on all night.The protestors are still there on the lawns of parliament. The convoy of angry and presumably damp people, with their tents and their muddled messages.I walked by the fringes of the protest yesterday. One of the men recognised me as a journo and started screaming at me in the street. He looked desperate..“There weren’t many arrests here!” He said.“You know the truth!”I pitied him.It’s true the protest only constitutes a tiny minority of New Zealanders, but only a fool wouldn’t take some of those messages seriously. Politicians and media have been threatened with lynchings. ONE News reporter Kristin Hall was told she would be executed by a woman holding a sign saying ‘Love is the answer.’ All it takes is one crazy person.Should the Police just arrest them all? It’s important to have consistency in Policing. It was a different stage of the pandemic and a different message, but Police didn’t rush in and arrest everyone at the Black Lives Matter protests. They didn’t arrest everyone who came to see Brian Tamaki in the domain. You can’t support the right to peaceful protest but only when the protestors are on your side.That being said, this is different. The moment there are death threats, it isn’t a peaceful protest. We all now how quickly a mob of disillusioned people can whip themselves into something more serious. Speaking to politicians in the Beehive yesterday, the riot at the U.S Capitol is very much front of mind. Above all, Police have to show they have the capacity and strength to defend parliament itself.This is probably the biggest test of New Zealand’s democracy since the beginning of the pandemic. Bigger than legality of public health measures and the border, the challenges over MIQ. Regardless of how it ends, the protestors will consider themselves martyrs. If they’ve lost their jobs through mandates, I suppose it’s not like they have anywhere better to be. This could go for weeks.But for what it’s worth, I don’t think Police should crack skulls to force them out. Contain them, yes. Arrest anyone who openly threatens someone or rushes the parliament buildings? Sure. But for now, we need to stay with the non-violent options.If the sprinklers didn’t work, maybe Trevor Mallard should bring in some speakers, and put the Crazy Frog song on repeat. Then, let’s cross our fingers for a good Southerly.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne reflects on sharing a studio with some "crazy" film kids back while filming Fair Go in the late 80s and early 90s. One of those kids turned out to be Sir Peter Jackson, who's just earned a spot on Forbes' biggest earners list. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Estelle Clifford has been listening to Bastille's new album, Give Me the Future. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travel expert Mike Yardley gives us the lowdown on all the thrills you can find in the south's Selwyn District. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Raynes has been busy reading Love Marriage by Monica Ali and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are having a fabulous summer and where I live on the Tutukaka Coast of Northland we get lots of wonderful visitors from all over NZ. And their dogs. Now, we are dog owners and at our eco village we actually have kiwi roaming between the houses at night. Quite noisy actually, always calling for each other. There is a ‘no uncontrolled dog’ policy at the village so it was with quite a lot of trepidation that we finally got a puppy two years ago. We were still four days a week in Auckland and our daughter was a co-carer. So, we put plenty of training into her, she only stays on our section inside the village, she is on a lead walking outside our section and never outside after dark. It seems to be working well. Because I hate to say dog lovers, the main reason Kiwi are still declining in most parts of NZ is attack by dogs. Habitat destruction was a big one. Then Mustelids, ferrets, stoats, weasels and wild cats can kill 80% of kiwi chicks but once they are six months old they can defend themselves, but never against dogs. Kiwi are very smart, have strong legs and claws. They live a long time and can have more than one egg a year. The terrible 80% kill still means that kiwi could prosper if we keep dogs away Dogs can’t resist the smell of kiwi and because kiwis are flightless, they have very weak chest bones and a dog picking them up, will break their chest and they die. And even your little poodle cross can do this damage. The poodle is actually a bird dog. And once they are in a pack, yes just two dogs, look out as their behaviour can change radically It’s in their nature, you think you are taking your dog for a walk, they think they are out on a hunt. Conservation workers, who are often avid dog owners themselves have come up, with some rules for when you leave the city and are at a beach or the bush Know what dogs are doing at all times. A kiwi safe dog will be in your sight at all times and will always come straight away when called, no matter what the distraction. Now this isn’t that common for most dogs I’m afraid but you can always follow these guidelines from the Kiwi Coast organisation. Never let dogs roam uncontrolled. Unless you are in a secure fenced off dog section When out and about, keep dogs on a lead at all times. Kiwi shelter in unusual places, and can be caught and killed in seconds. Use a short non-retractable lead when walking dogs. Kiwi have been killed on roadsides by dogs walked with retractable leads. Please take special care at night. Keep dogs confined and accompany them on a lead if they need to go outside. Consider using a muzzle - they are easy to use and effectiveThe good news is that here on the Eastern Cost of Northland kiwi are off the endangered list, and are in fact expanding so that the current challenge is making special wildlife corridors to join up the different areas You are welcome to visit us, just control your dog. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Campbell has been making the most of New Zealand Pinot Gris, which he says has never been better! His best buy pick this week is the Mount Brown 2021 Pinot Gris from North Canterbury, for $16 a bottle. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Always a bit of a bummer when you grow tomatoes: Blight is one of those diseases that can cause a lot of damage and quickly.Two varieties: early blight (Alternaria solani) and late blight (Phytophthora infestans). This last species is a close relative of the famous potato disease that cause massive potato crop losses in Europe, especially Ireland, which led to the horticultural Refugee movement and the run to the New Americas.First of all: “early” and “late” are not sound diagnostic names for the disorders, as both can be “late and “early” respectively.Alternaria can be identified by its leaf-spotting, and associated rots on developing fruit, especially at the distal end (non-stalk end)Phytophthora has characteristic lesions on the base of the plant – often on the lowest parts of the main stem, just above the soil. The stem looks black and often “narrower” in patches.Later that develops into a more obvious symptom whereby the leaves start to droop, go yellow and often shrivel up. By then it might be too late to save the plant.With both blight species it s best to prevent an infection before it gets that far:1) Keep your plants pruned from the bottom leaves upward. Every time you take the laterals off, check if you can prune the bottom leaves off, so they are not in contact with the soil.2) Prune those leaves on a dry day – and clean your secateurs regularly3) Water the plants by depositing the water on the ground/soil, NOT on the leaves and especially avoid wetting the bottom leaves4) Every now and then spray the leaves with a copper spray solution (Copper Oxychloride or liquid copper) or a regular fungicide (Fungus fighter – myclobutanil etc); the copper acts as a preventative barrier and the fungicides have some systemic action that can fight the infection from inside the plant tissue5) Regularly feed the plants (liquid fertiliser – seafood soup/seaweed tea), which will give them resistance.6) Don’t grow tomatoes in the same spot year after year – change position in your garden; in glass houses or tunnel houses change the soil mix every other year or so, creating a fresh growing soil from time to timeLISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you remember the moment history was made for New Zealand in tennis at the Tokyo Olympics last year?Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus won the bronze medal in doubles - the first medal in tennis for our country. Marcus is just as successful off the court as on it. The 32-year-old is has recently been named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year. Previous winners include the likes of Nelson Mandela and Roger Federer. Jack Tame catches up with him.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meta / Facebook now holds the record for the largest single-day loss ever by a US company It said goodbye to $230 billion in value. There are three big reasons why... For the first time, Facebook's daily active users went down by 1 million in North America - which is bad news because Facebook's revenue per user is highest in North America. Basically, the kids don't think it's cool anymore and TikTok is taking people away. But also...Apple's changes to allow users to prevent apps from tracking them is expected to cost Facebook $10 billion in revenue. If they don't know where you are, what shops you're visiting and who you're spending time with, then their ads can't be as targeted. It's also pouring money into the metaverse - spending $10 billion on it last year. But the metaverse is still just a VR concept that isn't yet fully baked or ready for mass adoption. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reacher: A must-watch for fans of the Lee Child best-selling novels. This new crime thriller follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, who has recently entered civilian life when he is falsely accused of murder (Amazon Prime Video). Rules of the Game: A British drama set in a small family-run business, where a series of historic misconduct cases are unearthed with dramatic consequences (TVNZ OnDemand) Pam and Tommy: Lily James stars in this drama that follows the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship, going back to their whirlwind romance that started with them marrying after only knowing each other for 96 hours in 1995 (Disney+). LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This salad is full of texture and flavour and it is glorious. The components are cooked separately then thrown together just before serving – YUM. Serves 2-4 2 medium sized eggplants, sliced into 2cm thick rounds 4 tbsps olive oil 2 red capsicums, halved and de-seeded 2 handfuls green beans, chopped and blanched ½ cup roasted peanuts Handful fresh coriander Dressing ½ cup plain, unsweetened yoghurt Lemon juice Juice + zest from half a lemon ¼ cup good quality olive oil Pinch chilli ½ tsp sea salt Decent grind black pepper Brush eggplant slices with oil, sprinkle with salt and grill until browned on one side, turn and cook second side until soft and cooked through. Place in large mixing bowl. Rub capsicum halves with olive oil, place cut side down on tray and grill on high until skin is blistered and blackened in places. Cover with tea towel, set aside for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle before peeling off skin and discard. Slice flesh into strips and add to eggplant. Simmer green beans in salted water until just cooked, drain and refresh in ice cold water – this keeps the colour. Pat dry and add to eggplant and capsicum. Add peanuts and coriander. Whisk yoghurt, lemon juice & zest, olive oil, chilli, salt and pepper. Taste and season with more juice or seasonings to taste. Using your hands, gently toss cooked vegetables and tumble out onto serving dish or into individual bowls. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of dressing, serving remaining on the side.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Belfast and Moonfall, as well as the documentary on MMA and kickboxing fighter Mark Hunt, called The Fight of his Life.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne has been dealing with the question of ALL questions this week - how long will I live? He's stumbled upon Statistic New Zealand's calculator that can work out how long you are likely to live. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For those of us who live in New Zealand, MIQ has been pretty bloody good.Not perfect, no. But good enough to keep out the worst of the virus for the best part of two years. Of course, for New Zealanders based overseas who’ve wanted to get home, the experience has been pretty different. As New Zealand citizens, most of our opinions have been informed by our own individual experiences. If you’ve been separated from a loved one, or been denied precious moments with new or dying family members, the cruelty of the MIQ lottery system will stick in your throat. It’ll be a defining memory of the pandemic. But the truth is, MIQ is still running today because it’s popular. A majority of New Zealanders, most of whom are in the country, think the MIQ lottery is necessary for their own protection.If nothing more, the Charlotte Bellis fiasco has probably hastened the end of MIQ for most people arriving in New Zealand.But the end of the MIQ lottery is only one piece of the puzzle that needs to be sorted for New Zealand’s reconnection with the World. And for all the clarity around different dates for different travellers, the new Tourism New Zealand campaign that’s been launched overseas, and the end of MIQ, there is still one massive hurdle at the border.New Zealand won’t be in a position to properly reconnect with the world until we no longer have a requirement for extended at-home isolation.If you were a fully-vaccinated international arrival landing in Sydney this afternoon, you’d be expected to go home, self-isolate, and take a rapid antigen test. Once you’d received a negative result, you wouldn’t have to isolate any longer. You’d be good to go! For a week, you’d just have to avoid high risk places (rest homes, prisons, hospitals etc), before taking another rapid antigen test on day six.I’m not saying we should be New South Wales... yet. Australia’s at least a couple of months ahead of us with Omicron. We’re still waiting for the big surge.But the self-isolation requirements announced by the Government this week, where all new arrivals are treated as close contacts, will be a significant disincentive to people who want to travel to New Zealand.So what?! You might argue. It keeps us safe! Perhaps.But when we look back at 2022, something tells me Omicron isn’t the thing that will have caused the most pain. Especially if most of us have received our booster shots.No, INFLATION will be the word of 2022.And removing as many barriers at the border as possible for workers and tourists alike, is one of the few things we can do to try and slow it down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.